Agroscope, Institute for Plant Production Sciences IPS, 1260 Nyon, Switzerland

Amount and composition of manure produced by fattening beef cattle

To furnish a reliable basis for the revision of the guide values on manure production and composition of fattening beef cattle, 37 balance experiments were conducted on 13 Swiss farms. The daily growth rate of the animals varied between 1100 and 1500 grams. The mean annual production of slurry per fattening beef place was 7.5 t of fresh matter and 0.65 kg of dry matter. For solid manure systems it was 6.8 t of fresh and 1.2 t of dry matter. The mean annual excretion per fattening beef place was 38 kg nitrogen, 13 kg phosphate (P2O5) and 39 kg potash (K2O). Apart from the phosphate excretion and the amount of solid manure, which were both significantly lower, these results correspond well with the present Swiss guide values. Only on few farms there was a significant potential of reducing the copper and zinc content of the manure by reducing the amount of these elements in the ration.

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